Reshaping the Focus of Cybersecurity
Key Insights from the International Counter Ransomware Initiative Statement
By Todd Thorsen, Chief Information Security Officer, CrashPlan
February 12, 2024
Earlier in November, media outlets widely reported the contents of a remarkable joint statement. The International Counter Ransomware Initiative (CRI), comprising 40 countries, declared that they would no longer pay ransom to bad actors. In the same policy statement, CRI also agreed to create a shared blacklist of wallets used by ransomware actors and help any of their members respond in the event of a ransomware attack. In addition to these strong stances against ransomware, the coalition also welcomed 13 new members this year. All this signals that ransomware is looming large as a global concern for several states — and that there is a genuine interest in developing strong, consistent international policy responses to a growing problem.
The problem is real. From 2019 to 2022, the number of ransomware attempts worldwide went from 187 million to 493 million, according to Statista. Moreover, Corvus’ Q3 2023 Global Ransomware Report noted that global ransomware attack frequency went up 95% in the last year. Against this backdrop, CRI’s statement, and the other actions it’s taken, are a step in the right direction. Somebody needs to do something.
Read the full article on Cyber Defense Magazine: https://www.cyberdefensemagazine.com/reshaping-the-focus-of-cybersecurity/
